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Children's Self-Control and the Health and Wealth of the Nation - Professor Terrie Moffitt

2,776 views · Published 18 February 2015 · 59:13 · Indexed 26 October 2026

Channel: Gresham College · 2015 · Education

Policy-makers are considering large-scale early intervention programs to enhance children's self-control, with the aim of reducing crime and improving citizens' health and wealth.
Experimental studies and economic analyses are suggesting that such programs could reap benefits for a nation. Yet, how important is childhood self-control for the health, wealth, and public safety of the adult population?
Following a population-representative cohort of 1000 New Zealand children from their birth in 1972 to age 38 in 2011, we show that childhood self-control predicts unplanned single-parenting, high-school drop out, criminal offending, addiction, heavy smoking, personal finances, savings for retirement, and physical health and illness. These effects of the children's self-control could be disentangled from their intelligence and their parents' social-class.
In another cohort of 500 UK twin-sibling-pairs, the sibling with better self-control at age 5 had better life outcomes than his twin sibling with weaker self-control, despite sharing the same parents and family background.
These predictions from childhood followed a gradient of self-control, suggesting a nation's health and wealth could be improved by enhancing self-control in all of its children. Early interventions enhancing the population's self-control skills might reduce a panoply of societal costs, save taxpayers money, and prepare everyone for successful aging.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/childrens-self-control-and-the-health-and-wealth-of-their-nation-tracking-1000

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Children's Self-Control and the Health and Wealth of the Nation - Professor Terrie Moffitt

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